Specialization is fine for UNLV and UNR, but Las Vegas needs a medical school.

In his Dec. 2 letter, Evan Blythin makes good sense in terms of sharing programs — especially sports programs — by the two universities in Reno and Las Vegas. But I don’t believe rabid sports fans will really be listening. Where he goes wrong, however, is his suggestion that UNR should focus on a medical school, while UNLV should focus on a law school. The population of Las Vegas is just too large to be without a strong medical school. Medical schools do much more than simply train doctors. They provide the education, research and specialization that attract and support good physicians. Without a close medical school affiliation, hospitals will have only mediocre services and staff. Mr. Blythin should look to places such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City, each of which has multiple medical schools affiliated with city and private hospitals. It is also a fact that physician care in the Department of Veterans Affairs was subpar until the major effort was made to affiliate most of the hospitals with nearby medical schools.